CineFestAsia in Erie, May 9 and 10.

The Erie Asian Pacific American Association and the Film Society of North Western Pennsylvania will present CineFestAsia on May 9 and 10 at the Erie Art Museum (map). Friday's opening reception is free and is followed by the world premiere of the Korean documentary Entering the Second Half (잘 살거야) and a discussion with the filmmaker, Heyjin Jun. The Korean title translates to "I Will Live Well" and is

a short documentary on victims of leprosy who have been exiled from society for decades but came to dream of their new lives and talked about hope for the future at their ages of 70s since they learned reading, writing, singing, computer and performing on the stage for the first time of their lives. They are scared but try to step forward towards the society which once abandoned them.

(The name of the South Korean island is Sorok-do, and a Google search will lead to more on the topic.)

Singapore's Ilo Ilo will also run on the 9th, while Transit, The Lady, and Bhaag Milka Bhaag will play on the 10th. Tickets are $5 each. Times and trailers are available by visiting the Erie APAA website and clicking CineFestAsia.

Peelander-Z in Pittsburgh, May 7.

From Facebook.

Japanese punk band Peelander-Z will play Altar Bar in the Strip District on May 7. The show starts at 7:00 pm, and tickets are $10. Wikipedia provides an overview of their shows:

They perform on stage and appear in color-coordinated costumes, which they state are not costumes, but their skin. The costumes range from sentai style suits, to kimono, to rubber Playmobil style wigs. There is also a tiger costume and a giant squid/guitar costume to coincide with the song "Mad Tiger". Another aspect of their routine is their on-stage antics such as human bowling (diving head-first into bowling pins), pretending to hit each other with chairs in imitation of pro-wrestlers, and mid-performance piggyback rides. They often allow audience members on stage to join in on the fun, and often dive into the audience or hang from a balcony as part of their act.

They were last in Pittsburgh in September.

Original Godzilla film at Regent Square Theater, May 5 through May 8.

Via Wikipedia.

The original version of the 1954 Japanese movie Godzilla will play at the Regent Square Theater (map) from May 5 through May 8. From the Pittsburgh Filmmakers website:

It spawned 60 years of sequels, remakes, and rip-offs, but the original over-sized sea creature is as thrilling as ever. The US version was not only badly dubbed, it was revised, re-cut, and re-arranged to add scenes with Raymond Burr as a reporter. To make room (and to excise the strong anti-nuclear subtext) 40 minutes were deleted. This is the restored original: the monster, awakened after millennia by hydrogen bomb testing – and impervious to repeated shelling by the Japanese army – wreaks havoc on Tokyo. With subtitles.

Short Peace (ショート・ピース) at Hollywood Theater, May 3 and 4.

The 2013 Japanese animated anthology film, Short Peace (ショート・ピース), is coming to the Hollywood Theater in Dormont (map) this weekend, and tickets for the two showings, May 3 at 1:00 pm and May 4 at 7:00 pm, are available online.

This omnibus film called Short Peace, which consists of 4 short animated films. One of the films from Short Peace was nominated for this year's Academy Awards. Short Peace is also from the creator of AKIRA, Katsuhiro Otomo. in Japanse language with English subtitles

That nominee, Possessions, was in Pittsburgh earlier in the year. The complete film will have a nationwide release from April 18.

The theater is located at 1449 Potomac Ave. in Dormont, and is accessible by Pittsburgh's subway/LRT at a block south of Potomac Station.

2014 Korean Food Bazaar, May 3 in Shadyside.

The Korean Central Church of Pittsburgh (피츠버그한인중앙교회) will hold their 19th annual Korean Food Bazaar (바자회) on Saturday, May 3, from 10:30 am to 4:00 pm. The church is located at 821 South Aiken Ave. in Shadyside (map).

We went in 2012; it was good.

A few movies of note from the 2014 Silk Screen Asian-American Film Festival, April 26 through May 4.

The 2014 Silk Screen Asian-American Film Festival schedule was announced on March 26, with times and locations on the Silk Screen website. The annual festival runs from April 26 through May 4, with screenings at four local theaters. Here's a quick look at the festival's movies and short films from East Asia and thus of most relevance to this blog:






A Time in Quchi (暑假作业), Taiwan; Bunta, China; Cheong, South Korea; Confession of Murder (내가 살인범이다), South Korea; The Garden of Words (言の葉の庭), Japan; Hide and Seek (숨바꼭질), South Korea; Mourning Recipe (四十九日のレシピ), Japan; Norte, End of History (Norte, hangganan ng kasaysayan); Philippines; Touch of the Light (逆光飛翔), Taiwan; Trap Street, China; Unforgiven (許されざる者), Japan; Why Don't You Play in Hell? (地獄でなぜ悪い), Japan.

Chinese-Korean film Dooman River (두만강) at IUP, April 27.

The IUP 2014 Foreign Film Festival concludes on April 27 with Dooman River (두만강). From The Global Film Initiative:

Writer-director Zhang Lu’s fascinating window into a rarely seen corner of rural China revolves around 12-year-old Chang-ho, living with his grandfather and mute sister along the frozen river-border with North Korea. Although fraught with unemployment and other tensions, his community seems sympathetic toward the Korean refugees fleeing famine and misery; Chang-ho even bonds over soccer with one young border-crosser who comes scavenging food for a sibling. But he soon turns on his new friend as suspicions mount against the illegal immigrants and his sister reels from unexpected aggression, provoking a quandary over his loyalties in an exquisitely detailed story of compassion and strife across an uneasy geopolitical border.

Dooman River will be shown in McVitty Auditorium, Sprowls Hall (campus map) at 5:30 pm and 8:00 pm, and is free and open to the public.

One Night in Beijing, April 26 at CMU.

The annual performance by Awareness of Roots in Chinese Culture, "One Night in Beijing", will be held this year on April 26 at Carnegie Mellon University.

One Night in Beijing (ONiB) is the biggest annual event produced by Awareness of Roots in Chinese Culture (ARCC)! The show boasts a wide variety of performances, so be prepared to get swept away by an amazing storyline, inspired by the famous and traditional story, Journey to the West. ONiB will take you away and into this story set in ancient China through a series of traditional Chinese and hip hop dances, Chinese yo-yo, a capella, and much much more!

ONiB starts at 7:30 on the 26th in the Rangos Ballroom in the Cohen University Center (campus map). Tickets are $10 at the door or $8 in advance.

Japanese tea ceremony, music, at CMU on April 17.

The Department of Modern Languages at Carnegie Mellon University presents an evening with traditional Japanese music and a tea ceremony on April 17 from 4:30 to 6:30 pm.

Yuko Eguchi will first give a lecture and performance of Japanese traditional music and dance, called kouta (small songs) and koutaburi (dance of small songs), a genre uniquely created by women and primarily preserved in geisha artistic culture. She will also give a lecture and demonstration of Japanese tea ceremony (Ura-senke school). Participants will have a chance to learn the history of Japanese traditional arts and to try out the taste of Japanese tea and sweets.

The lecture and performance will be held in the Connan Room of University Center (campus map).

Castaway on the Moon (김씨 표류기) at Maridon Museum, April 24.

The Maridon Museum will show the 2009 Korean film Castaway on the Moon (김씨 표류기) on April 24, as part of its 2014 Spring Film Series. A plot summary from the Korean Film Archive's Korean Movie Database:

A man named KIM jumps into the dark, quiet waters of the Han River. He wakes up and finds himself lying on strange ground, covered with sand. For a second, he thinks he is in heaven, but soon recognizes that he simply drifted to a nameless island in the river. In one of the riverside apartment buildings, there’s a girl who hasn’t ventured out of her room for years. With her dishevelled hair and in the same old clothes she’s worn for years, she looks just like a castaway. Then one day, she catches sight of a man living alone on an island through her binoculars. Day after day, his lonely but seemingly contented life triggers her curiosity and compels her to step out of her room after so many years. KIM’s extraordinary life becomes the inspiration for change in this girl’s lonely, detached life.

The movie begins at 6:30 and is presented by Dr. Alison McNeal, a retired English professor from Slippery Rock University.

The Maridon Museum of Asian Art is located at 322 N. McKean St. in downtown Butler, some 40 miles north of Pittsburgh (map).